Tayne: A Story of the End of the Sengoku Jedai
by Shade-san
Summary: After years of youkai attacks and humans struggling for survival, mankind has finlly found a way of stopping the youkai menace in its tracks; guns the way of the future, are used to both give and take life. But races cross when a young youkai, Tayne, is o


Okay, my first fic! It might be a bit confusing at first, and I welcome any comments and/or suggestions. The story takes place around what would be the early Meiji era, it's really a blend of all global cultures, with an ambiguous location. Now, though this is a fic, none of the characters from Inu Yasha will be involved; it's as if they never existed. But the Shikon no Tama will emerge later on, and the main character, Tayne, is from the same family as Sesshoumaru. So, please send me any comments through review or email; as long as you're not throwing insults for the hell of it, all responses will be reviewed and considered. If you really like the story and would like to see some character art, please notify me. Any and all questions and comments are welcome, and if any of you out there like the story, I'd be glad to write future chapters.  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
An Unsteady Future  
  
The velvet cloak of the night, speckled with stars, seemed to yield to the leaping flames of the torches. The torches seemed to make the people feel as if they were some kind of heroes, out to kill the villains of the world. As times progressed, human society grew more and more powerful. New weapons were constantly being developed. Progress moved at a rapid rate. As the villages replaced the dense forests that once covered the world in a green embrace receded. Humans were everywhere, killing all living things that were in the way of the revolution. Youkai had once haunted the dreams of all, making even grown men cry out at night. Now, they were being hunted by all, even by children. After years of horrendous murders, raids, and other unpleasantries from the youkai hordes, man finally had of defeating the monsters of their nightmares. Rifles and pistols were the way of the future. The last of the youkai were being hunted out and killed. It was considered to be "ensuring the future of man." And that it was, only for mankind. Most of the taiyoukai, most sought after by the human bounty hunters, had been eliminated, their immense power being shadowed by the powerful weapons of humans. And all youkai, even children, were being killed not for the once-just cause, but to satisfy raw human greed. Human lords now ruled the lands of the great youkai lords. Now, hiding places had grown scarce. Hers was no safe-haven; the small, moss covered cave was barely enough to conceal her from the blood lust. Nights like this had become more and more common. One of the torch-wielding villagers, nothing more than a simple farmer, laughed maniacally.  
  
Brushing her pale blue hair out of her face with a small, clawed hand, she scrunched into the small, moist cave in an attempt to conceal herself. Her family had once held all the power in the Western Lands, but she was the last one, her mother cut down before her eyes. Though she was youkai, she was still just a young child, lost in a rapidly changing world, alone. She tightened the bright red bow that held her long, thick hair back out of a nervous habit. The torches passed her little cave. One more night. One more night not be killed. She slowly made her way out of the cave, and walked down a worn-out path in the deep forest. Brushing the dirt off her white silk dress, she stared at the palace that had once been home to her mother and herself.  
  
The beautiful, elegant youkai swept her enchanted fan at the intruders. A purple dust burned the eyes of the men. The youkai, who looked much like a tall dryad, wore her shining purple hair like a peacock's tail, wrapped in a decorative white fan. Her elegant lavender gown gave her the form of a mermaid. Her forehead was marked with a blue crescent moon. Anger outlined her thin face. "What do you want here, humans?! You dare challenge the Lady of the West?!" Her voice trailed off into the night. Tayne, a young girl of six, watched her mother fighting off the human invaders from her window, perched high in the elegant palace. She, like her mother, was a powerful taiyoukai, and wore the crescent moon mark on her forehead, a trait carried by her powerful line. A shot rang out into the night. The beautiful taiyoukai collapsed into a pool of her own blood. Tears streaked down the young youkai's face as she watched the humans, victorious, walk away, but not before stripping the youkai of all that was valuable. One of the men looked back at the corpse, and threw his torch to the taiyoukai's body, watching her burn. Tayne, devastated by her loss, threw herself on to her bed and pounded her small fists against the soft mattress. Her long, snow- white tail limply hung to the floor. She cried herself to sleep that night.  
  
Remembering what had happened the night before, vainly trying to hold back tears, Tayne, one of the last taiyoukai, wandered off into the night.  
  
The luminous rays of the steadily rising sun danced across the surface of the crystal lake. With the protective darkness of the night at its end, Tayne gazed into the rippling surface of the water. Her reflection stared back at her. Kneeling on the riverbank, she cursed her appearance and heritage for all it was. Though from a line of powerful youkai lords, she didn't want to be a part of that. She, too, possessed the familiar traits of her family; pale, almost silvery hair, a blue crescent moon on her forehead, a long, fluffy white tail, and two red stripes on each cheek. The one thing that truly set her apart from her kin was her kind, amber eyes, lacking the cold, icy gaze that marked her kind as cold-blooded killers. From documents and stories passed through the generations, she had learned of her family's outright detestment of humans, which eventually let to their decline.  
  
Feeling utterly alone, she slowly got to her feet and wandered off, in search of somewhere she would be welcome.  
  
He examined his newly imported gun, watching the cold metal glint in the sun. His men were doing the same. After years of brutal murders, famine, and all kinds of horrors, mankind finally had the power to bring down even the most powerful of youkai. Grinning as he loaded the gun and deeply inhaling the smell of the gunpowder, the tall, bald general gestured to his men. "Alright, men! Move out! Now that you've seen what these babies can do, let's head out and clean that sector of youkai scum!" One of the men shuddered under his steel-plated armor. "Hai, sir! But, last night, we lost so many men! Shouldn't we wait for the reinforcements to arrive before heading out again?" General Kurotou glared hatefully at his defiant underling. "You will respect my authority, private! We didn't spend weeks traveling overseas so your cowardice could slow all of us down! You will do as I command you to, or you will be detained and dismissed from this unit." "But, sir!" the small soldier piped. "On that, erm, mission the other night. One of my closest childhood friends was-" " Don't you "But Sir" me, you little bastard! I don't care WHO died, you enlist with me, you're saying you will risk your life for the sake of humanity! Do you hear me, Private Walker?!" The small man nodded his acknolagement, and marched off with the rest of his company. With that, the large group of soldiers walked off in an everyday, routine youkai hunt. Joseph Walker was really a quiet man, who tried to keep to himself. He joined the international military forces in a dull hope of avenging his father, who he lost in war when he was just a child. Tucking a tuft of light brown hair under his greenish-gray uniform hat, the sunrise added a warm glow to his soft features. A young, gentle-hearted man of twenty-one, he longed to find a caring wife and start a family, but vengeance had a higher demand in his heart. He joined the army in hopes of finding his father's killer, but as the days of feudal warfare ended, the main concern of his duty was to eliminate the youkai that fed off of hatred and war. He steadily picked up the pace as his company marched onward into the sunrise. "Oi, over there--!" "What the hell are you hesitating for?! SHOOT THE BASTARD ALREADY!!!"  
  
The cool, moist grass erupted with a fearsome explosion as the small meadow was torn apart by bullets. A snake youkai and its young burst into sacks of blood and spilt entrails as the guns of the men went off in accordance to rank. When the dust finally settled, General Kurotou gave his men a gesture to continue onward. They shortly found themselves in a dense wooded grove, the picture of Eden. Some of the men filled their canteens in the glittering lake. As Walker twisted the cap onto his overflowing canteen, he noticed something on the other side of the beautiful, quiet lake.  
  
The young man grasped the shoulder of his comrad. The taller man turned to Walker questioningly. Slightly blue in the face, Walker pointed out the figure in the distance with a shaking hand. He wasn't quite used to dealing with youkai yet, and just the thought of what happened to those who weren't careful around the creatures sent chills down his spine. Private Shpeilka looked where his friend was pointing to, and adopted the same shocked expression. As more of the men noticed the misty figure by the riverbank, it eventually gained the attention of the gruff General Kurotou. The big man gave a complex hand signal, and half a dozen of the weary men stealthily crept through the tall grass than lined the calm river. Private Joseph Walker was among them. As the men approached the figure, its outline became clearer. A rat-like, greasy man readied his gun as he turned to his leader. "Sir, it's one o' them youkai monsters!" he said, excitedly. Taking a closer look at the figure, he remembered the stories he had heard so often in his childhood. Most youkai are just big bugs and the like, and though they are to be feared, the most dangerous monsters are the kind that wears a human-like form. Recalling the lessons from his past, he straightened up. The figure, now just yards away, looked a like a pale, young human girl. But an experienced eye could tell it wasn't at all.  
  
Tayne looked up from the surface of crystal lake at the uniformed human men surrounding her. Taking a closer look at them, she realized these were the men who so brutally murdered her mother just last night. The young youkai girl timidly climbed to her feet. One of the men awkwardly stepped forward. "Anno." he mumbled nervously, "Y. you're a youkai, right?" The small girl looked at him, confused. Examining her face, the greasy man scratched his unkempt head, his filthy face forming a jagged, toothy grin. Tayne slowly began to back away, and attempted to dash off into the misty morning, but was stopped by a muddy, black boot that clamped her long, white tail to the ground. Her heart racing, she desperately looked for an escape route, but found herself surrounded by the sneering human intruders.  
  
The boot removed itself from her tail, and the man who belonged to it grabbed Tayne's tail, examining it with stubby fingers. "Heh, my wife would love this thing on that coat I bought for her on our anniversary! What d'you think, guys, should we take it?"  
"I dunno, that might be kind o' weird, stealin' the tail off'n a youkai." replied the human rat, who now stood beside his friend. "Though it's definitely long 'nough."  
Private Walker walked up to his army-mates. Though he felt that youkai were monsters that deserved death, he didn't feel right about hurting a child of any species. He calmly walked to Private Shpeilka. The rat-like man looked at him like a cat that caught a prized mouse.  
"Maybe we could just let this one go. We don't have to kill every non- human thing we encounter, right? Let's just look for some more." He felt a cold, ham-like hand grab his shoulder. He slowly turned around to find a stern General Kurotou towering over him menacingly. "NO we can not, Private Walker! You should by now, the most powerful of youkai adopt a human-like form! What do you take this army for, a bunch of tree-hugging hippies?! If you joined us to pick daisies and sip tea with your little youkai friends, the you can just get the hell out of my sight!"  
The heavily built soldier dropped Tayne's tail quickly, as if it had suddenly turned into a snake.  
  
"If you cowards still don't believe me," belted the enraged general, "I brought some enchanted scrolls from the village priestess along with me. They can reveal any monster's true form instantly!" He whipped out a small talisman from his pocket, held it up to the youkai, and dropped it on her face. She was instantly enveloped in a ball of light. Once the light had faded away, a large white dog sat in the place the girl was moments ago. The men all looked astonished, aside from General Kurotou, who now bore a "told ya so" expression on his rough face. 


End file.
